INFORMATION FOR CURRENT CLIENTS, from Judy Bordeau

August 2008

Labor Certification update: On June 1, 2008, the Department of Labor consolidated its processing of PERM labor certification cases to the Atlanta Processing Center. Previously, labor certification cases were processed by 2 National Processing Centers--one in Chicago, and the other in Atlanta. With Atlanta handling ALL labor certification cases nationwide, we are expecting to see significant delays with labor certification processing times. The Department of Labor indicated at a meeting in June that these delays were expected to be ongoing. At the July 15, 2008 DOL Stakeholders Meeting, the DOL stated the following:

(1) "Both targeted and random PERM audits will continue. Note that once a case has gone into audit, case adjudication will not make the anticipated 60-90 day time frame. The timeframe discussed in the preamble to the regulation is not binding and is irrelevant if there is an audit. Rather, it is a benchmark for "clean cases.". In fact, approximately 70% of all cases filed are decided within 60-90 days, although 120 days is a better benchmark for managing client expectations."

(2) "DOL is currently working on audited cases with priority dates of March 2007."

It is clear from the above DOL statements that we should expect PERM to work less efficiently on a going forward basis. While we were used to seeing approvals quickly, sometimes even in a matter of days, or in just a few months with an audit, the Department of Labor is clearly planning to review cases very closely. We are expecting the DOL to audit based on additional and different criteria, so it may be that a higher percentage of cases are audited. While we hope that the DOL does not continue to take 17+ months to process audited cases, we should expect to see significant additional processing times for those cases that are selected for audits.

February 2008

I-485 Name Checks
Many of you have experienced delayed I-485 case processing due to FBI Name Checks. The USCIS has just released a memo with revised guidance (see enclosed). In the memo, the USCIS confirms that the FBI has committed to resolve the name check within 180 days and states, “Where the application is otherwise approvable, and the FBI name check request has been pending for more than 180 days, the adjudicator shall approve the I-485...and proceed with card issuance.”

The memo does not clarify when the 180 days starts to run. It is possible that the “clock” starts on the date of the memo (February 4, 2008), or the date the fingerprints are taken, or on the date the I-485 application is filed. The memo also does not clarify what individuals can do to assure that cases are processed accordingly. Nor does it guarantee that the USCIS will process all I-485 applications within 180 days. Please note that the current USCIS processing time for I-485 petitions is longer than 180 days (about 7 months), and, interestingly, I-140 processing times are significantly longer (approximately 10 months). Because the I-485 cannot be approved until the I-140 is approved, it is misleading to rely on the listed I-485 processing times on the USCIS website or to expect that all I-485’s will be approved within 180 days. (For a list of processing times, see the USCIS Nebraska Service Center Processing Dates page)

However, the memo should ultimately be very good news for clients with cases that have been pending for a long time due to name checks. I would expect that individuals with long case delays due to name checks should expect some kind of activit